They’d met up at the bench across from Sainte-Chappelle at dusk, just as Claire had instructed, but Claire and Finn were nowhere to be found. “Do you think they’re all right?” Ainsley asked.
“As long as she has Finn with her, you needn’t worry,” Marcus said. Finn had laid down his life for Claire’s the year before and would do so again. And again. And again. “Maybe they stumbled upon some important information about Mayden?”
Ainsley’s brows drew together as she asked, “What if this isn’t the place where Claire sent him? He could be anywhere by now.”
“He could,” Marcus admitted. “But I’ve seen with my own eyes the damage Mayden could do. He’s hurt enough people, countless people. We’ll have to keep searching if he’s not here.”
The sun was setting, and Cecelia was hungry. Her stomach protested loudly, and she laid a land over her belly to stifle the noise.
Marcus chuckled. “It’s getting late. We need to get you fed.”
“I’ll survive,” Cecelia replied. It was too late for him to try to take care of her now.
“I won’t,” Ainsley complained, which made Allen smile. “I’m going to swoon and fall into the dirt due to excessive hunger.” She blinked her dark lashes at Allen. “Will you catch me if I do, Allen?” she asked.
“As a gentleman, I would be obligated to catch you, Ainsley,” he said with a wink.
“Obligated?” Ainsley complained. “That’s the only reason you’d do it?”
Allen’s cheeks colored. The man had blushed more today than he probably ever had in his life. “That’s not the only reason,” he admitted quietly. And Ainsley suddenly grew as somber and quiet as he was. What was that all about? Ainsley and Allen? Already?
Marcus grunted. “I’m a little hungry myself.”
Allen said blandly, “I doubt there’s a soul here who would try to catch you if you swooned, Marcus. So buck up.”
“I would let him fall,” Ainsley said with a grin.
“So would I,” Allen admitted.
Cecelia raised a hand slowly, as though being called on by a tutor. “I would feel inclined to do the same.” She shouldn’t have said that, but she couldn’t help it.
Marcus feigned pulling a knife from his chest. “Remind me not to call on any of you if I’m ever in trouble.”
Allen grumbled. “I suppose I’m honor bound to catch you if you swoon.” He looked put out by the thought. “Mother would be cross with me if I didn’t.”
“Father might take away your allowance.”
“I daresay he would applaud me if I told him the circumstances.” Allen laughed.
Marcus shrugged. “That may be true.”
“Do you two always bicker like this?” Ainsley asked. “With such good natures?” She looked from one to the other. Cecelia had wondered the same.
“Things were tense when we first met,” Allen admitted. “But our circumstances can’t be changed. So, I’ve learned to tolerate him.” He waited a moment and grinned.
Marcus scoffed. “He barely tolerated me in the beginning.” He twisted the signet ring that he wore on his finger. The ring was a symbol of him becoming a viscount, if Cecelia was correct. “Father gave this ring to me as a gesture of goodwill when I agreed to succeed him,” he said quietly. “But I’d rather have had a puppy.” He grinned. Goodness he was handsome when he smiled.
“Oh, a puppy,” Ainsley crooned. “I wanted a puppy once.”
Marcus’s brows drew together. “What on earth would you do with a dog?”
Ainsley heaved a sigh and then went on to explain to Allen. “We travel too often to keep pets. They become a burden.”
“You don’t have staff to care for them when you’re gone?” Allen asked.
“Yes, but then I’d miss the dog.” Ainsley rolled her eyes. “I don’t believe leaving things you love behind to go from world to world is good for anyone,” she said quietly. She looked at Marcus and then down at the ground where the toe of her slipper drew a circle in the dirt.
Silence fell on the foursome like a heavy cloak. Allen cleared his throat to throw it off. “It’s well past dusk,” he informed them. “I hope Claire and Lord Phineas are well.”